Our Faculty
Learn from experienced professionals, academic scholars and thought leaders.
Medill IMC faculty members reflect a mix of both industry professionals and academic scholars. They produce cutting-edge research, lead top marketing communications companies and develop innovative solutions to complex challenges. They consistently push the envelope in the field of marketing communications to find the most effectives strategies for engaging consumers—now and in the future.
At Medill, not only do you learn from these experienced thought leaders in the classroom, but they also become your mentors and supporters. In addition, you join their networks of marketing communications professionals who work all over the world.
Jacqueline Babb
Associate Professor and Full-Time IMC Academic Director
Jacqueline Babb teaches strategy courses in marketing and IMC, and leads a global digital marketing course based in London. Babb serves on the IMC department curriculum committee. She serves on the executive committee of Northwestern’s faculty senate, where she chairs the Educational Affairs Committee.
Gerry Chiaro (MSA84)
Associate Professor and Director of IMC Immersion Quarter
Chiaro recently worked in marketing for several CPG companies such as Frito Lay, Pepsi Bottling Group, Gatorade, Pizza Hut and McDonald's. He then started a consulting businesses and served clients such as TGI Fridays, Travelocity, Anheuser-Busch, United Airlines and Coke.
Judy Franks
Professor
Franks brings nearly four decades of experience to the research and practice of media strategy for integrated marketing communications. Franks spent 23 years in Chicago's top ad agencies—Leo Burnett, FCB, Havas (formerly TLK), Starcom and Energy BBDO where she rose to the executive ranks in both media management and communications planning.
Chao Yu
Assistant Professor
Chao Yu's research primarily explores the social impacts of new media, with a particular focus on digital commercial platforms that gather consumer behaviors. He uses big data analytics to uncover underlying patterns in new media platforms that may contribute to biases or inequalities. His goal is to identify effective policies and strategies to mitigate these issues and promote equitable outcomes.
Carolyn Keller
Lecturer
Carolyn Wells Keller is a recent graduate of the marketing program at the Kellogg School of Management. Her research focuses on the properties of cuteness: what is cute and who likes cute products. Her teaching interests are consumer behavior and research methods.
Yu Xu
Associate Professor
Xu's research interests include media industries and analytics, social and communication networks, organizational change, ecology and evolution, and computational social science.